Depp 'storming off Pirates set' played down

A publicist for the latest "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie denied reports Thursday that Johnny Depp stormed off the Australian set to be with his wife in the United States, AFP reports.

The superstar actor has been shooting scenes as swashbuckling Captain Jack Sparrow on the Gold Coast tourist strip in Queensland state, but the Gold Coast Bulletin said he walked out on Wednesday, reportedly with his marriage in trouble.

"He's going back to the States on the first available private charter flight he can get on," it cited a source on the production team of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" as saying.

The newspaper claimed Depp and his wife of three months Amber Heard were constantly bickering, but a publicist for the movie, Michael Singer, said the claims were untrue.

"I can't go into detail on our filming schedules or the movements of individuals but I can tell you that nothing in that report has any relation to reality," Singer told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"Mr Depp has been filming on schedule. It's business as usual, with all participants working."

Heard is believed to have returned to the United States last week with the couple's two dogs Boo and Pistol, which were forced out of the country after officials warned they would be destroyed because they entered without authorisation.

The couple brought the terriers into Australia on their private jet without going through quarantine procedures, with Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce telling them to "bugger off" back to Hollywood, sparking a social media frenzy.

The Bulletin said Depp had initially been scheduled to return with them but changed his plans at the 11th hour after the film's producers intervened.

If he left, it would be another blow for the Disney movie, which is already behind schedule after Depp suffered a hand injury and returned to the United States to recover in March.